Define: Hurt
by akblake
Summary: Sophie's a little concerned and, in trying to talk around the issue, leaves Hardison to misunderstand. Eliot/Hardison pairing, but it's only talked about in general.


"Hardison… Alec, might I have a word?" Sophie hesitantly requested, and Hardison turned to face her, leaning back against the office's kitchen counter to make himself comfortable. From her tone of voice, he could guess that the conversation wouldn't be a short one.

"Absolutely, what's up?" Hardison kept an eye on body language as a clue towards trying to figure out what had her so uncomfortable.

Sophie took a deep breath, appeared to decide something, and then spoke. "I'm a little concerned about your relationship with Eliot, that someone will end up getting hurt. Are you certain that it's a good idea?"

Floored, Hardison could only stammer for a moment. He hadn't expected her commenting so pointedly on their relationship. "Of course there's a chance for one of us to get hurt, and we already have, but we've learned from it," he blurted out, overriding whatever else she looked about to say. "I mean, I've had to learn that the best way to wake him up when he's dreaming is by throwing a wadded up shirt or something… from across the room; got kneed once in the stomach before I learned that one. And Eliot, man, Eliot's already learned that walking across my floor in the dark isn't a good idea. He cut his feet up and killed two motherboards by stepping on them before he got into the habit of turning on a light. So yeah, I think we've both learned that our kind of relationship has its hazards, but we're good."

"Not quite what I meant, sweetie," Sophie managed to interject as he stopped to take a breath. He drew a blank as to what she could mean and could only stare in question until she clarified. "I meant that I'm afraid you'll hurt each other _emotionally_, like if you two broke up or it turned nasty. I can tell you, thieves don't make for stable relationships!" Sophie huffed a derogatory laugh at her own yes-no-maybe relationship with Nate.

A voice from the doorway behind Sophie had her spinning around in shock, to Hardison's carefully hidden amusement. "There's very little risk of me hurting Hardison." Eliot leaned against the door frame, appearing casual despite the conversation's topic. "I've learned quite a bit in my life so far, and I ain't the same person I was twenty years ago." He meaningfully nodded and Hardison got the point- whatever happened in the past wouldn't be repeated in the present.

"Besides, that's not how we work. Despite the fact that unintentional hurt is inevitable, neither of us are cruel people and we're both mature enough to talk out our problems when they come up," Hardison reasonably stated, and was mostly telling the truth. They did end up talking out their problems, though it was usually after one or both of them had their screaming fit first. Get the anger or frustration out of the way and they could both act like mature adults. He cradled the soda he'd been in the kitchen for, and walked out the door; Eliot didn't give way and they ended up brushing gently against each other as he passed into the hallway. Sophie made a sound, like she wanted to continue dissecting their relationship, and Hardison decided that enough was enough. "Don't hold us to the same standard that you and Nate are setting, Sophie; it's not fair to any of us, and neither Eliot nor I will appreciate the comparison."

Heels clicked on the floor and he turned to watch her step out into the hallway with them. "I'm sorry, I didn't intend to upset you; I just… I just don't want to see my 'kids' get hurt, and I do love you both dearly." Both Hardison and Eliot nodded in acceptance- they did understand the point she had tried, and failed, to make. Sophie stepped up to give Hardison a light hug, and then bussed Eliot's cheek as she passed by, heading down the hallway to corner Nate about her part in the upcoming job. The two shared an amused look and split up to their own duties- even relationships had to wait a bit when both partners had jobs to do. They simply did what had to be done and looked forward to the downtime between when they could spend more than a few hours together.


End file.
